Thursday, March 30, 2017

From activist official challenging the CIA on drug trafficking, to mouthpiece for the neocons seeking global conflict with Russia. Shameful.

Sarah Abdallah added,

Maxine WatersVerified account@MaxineWaters

Do not be distracted. Trump operatives are under FBI investigation for colluding w/ Putin to undermine our democracy! #FACTS

10 replies37 retweets74 likes

Maxine Waters has become a real embarrassment.

And it didn't happen overnight.

It happened, in part, during the last 8 years when Ms. Anti Iraq War couldn't say a damn thing.

What a huge misleader.

Here's a taste of an interview you should stream or read:DHARNA NOOR: With us to discuss all this is Glen
Ford. Glen is joining us from Plainfield, New Jersey. He's the
co-founder, and Executive Editor, of the Black Agenda Report. And he's
also the author of the book, "The Big Lie: An Analysis of the U.S. Media
Coverage of the Grenada Invasion."He's also a regular contributor to The Real News Network. Thank you so much for joining me, Glen.

GLEN FORD: Thanks for having me.DHARNA NOOR: Glen, can we get your response to that clip from Adam Schiff?GLEN FORD: Well, my response is that there's no
proof of any of that. And even the statement that came from the U.S.
intelligence agencies, basically in intel-speak, amounted to saying that
-- well, that's a plausible theory, it hangs together -- but there is
no proof.So this, what Mr. Schiff is spouting off, is propaganda, a fantasy
that has no basis in provable fact. And if we're going to have hearings
that are based on fantasies, I don't know which committee really ought
to be holding these hearings. Do we have a committee on fantasy?DHARNA NOOR: Let's take another look at what Adam Schiff continues to say.ADAM SCHIFF: Ours is not the first democracy to be
attacked by the Russians in this way. Russian intelligence has been
similarly interfering in the internal and political affairs of our
European, and other allies, for decades. What is striking here is the
degree to which the Russians were willing to undertake such an
audacious, and risky, action against the most powerful nation on Earth.That ought to be a warning to us. That if we thought that the
Russians would not dare to so blatantly interfere in our affairs, we
were wrong. And if we do not do our very best to understand how the
Russians accomplished this unprecedented attack on our democracy, and
what we need to do to protect ourselves in the future, we will only have
ourselves to blame.The stakes are nothing less than the future of our democracy, and
liberal democracy, because we're engaged in a new war of ideas. Not
communism versus capitalism, but authoritarianism versus democracy, and
representative government.DHARNA NOOR: What's your response to this? Are these
so-called interferences unprecedented? And what do you make of his
accusation that Russia is working against democracy with its support for
authoritarianism?GLEN FORD: Well, they're not just unprecedented,
they're non-existent, at least as far as the evidence goes. But there is
a great precedent in the world for interfering in other people's
governments, and other people's right to order their own internal
affairs as they see fit. And the biggest example of that interference --
the great interferer -- is the United States of America.Nobody holds a candle to the United States, when it comes to
interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. Nobody even
comes close. And we only get a sense of the scope, and sheer size, and
the unique character of U.S. interference in the rest of the world, by
taking in the totality of history, and the whole wide range of meddling
in other people's rights to self-determination that the United States is
guilty of.The U.S. has absolutely no respect for anybody else's right to
self-determination, except its own. It overthrows governments. It
overthrew most of the governments of Latin America, and still threatens
to do so. It has participated in the overthrow of emerging governments
in Africa, and now, basically is an occupier of Africa, through its
Africom.It annexes whole countries, and that begins with the beginnings of
the United States, the annexing of all the original people, the original
nations of the United States into the United States. And goes on to
include, oh, about half or more of Mexico, and all of Puerto Rico and
the Philippines. And they damned near took Cuba several times, including
at the turn of the 20th Century.

Thursday, March 30, 2017. Chaos and violence continues, the UN
Secretary-General visits Iraq, a War Hawk flutters and frets that the US
military in Iraq might be drawndown or -- gasp! -- withdrawn, and much
more.

AP reports 15 people are dead and another forty-five injured as a result of a Baghdad suicide truck bombing last night.

As the violence continues, the United Nations Secretary-General arrived in Iraq.

UN News Centre: How is UNHCR handling the large displacement resulting from the current crisis in Iraq?

António Guterres: We immediately started by
supporting the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), in northern Iraq,
providing tents, blankets and other relief items for the first response
for the people that were coming. Now, with
our other UN colleagues and NGOs, [we are] working with the KRG in a
more organised way in reception centres, in the camps that are being
established, and supporting families all over the region. We are doing
our best so they get the assistance they are entitled to and that the
necessary protection mechanisms are put in place. Of course, the
situation is more complex in and around Baghdad, where there is an
environment of high insecurity. But we have kept a small team in
Baghdad in order to be able to do everything we can to support the
people that are suffering so much.UN News Centre: What is the biggest challenge at the moment?

António Guterres: I think the big challenge is the
fighting itself. We are facing an enormous risk in Iraq for the
stability of the country and obviously there is no humanitarian
solution for this problem; the solution is always political. We
humanitarians can do no more than to support people in distress. What
we need is to stop the dramatic situations that are now proliferating
all over the world.

Oh, wait.

That's Guterres speaking in 2014.

Amazing how little has changed.

But that's part of the story as well -- even if it's not being reported on -- don't worry, we'll get to it.

The Trump administration has indicated it plans
to largely abdicate a U.S. role in Iraq's political future, despite the
certainty that driving the Islamic State group from its remaining
stronghold in Mosul – months, if not weeks, away – starts the clock on a
dangerous new era for a country on the verge of fracturing along rival
warring factions.

The prospect of a reduced U.S. role leaves a
vacuum in crafting a long-term political solution to reassemble Iraq.
Chief among the concerns is that the country's religious and ethnic
populations – minority Sunni Muslims who felt victimized by the central
government in Baghdad and now fear retribution, ethnic Kurds certain to
seek independence for their semiautonomous region, and a majority Shiite
population thought to be under the sway of Iran – will turn on each
other without a common enemy to unite their efforts.

There have been people concerned about the political situation in Iraq.

I know because -- check the archives -- I'm one of them.

We have laid out the roots for this conflict for years now.

We have talked about the need for diplomacy.

We have gone over and over how delivering F-16s with no demand of political reconciliation within Iraq was stupidity.

We've talked about the diplomatic toolbox.

We've rightly called Barack Obama out for bombing Iraq since August 2014
and sending even more US troops into the country without offering a
diplomatic surge because, if ISIS ever is gone, something else will
quickly replace it.

For over two years, Barack did nothing.

Secretary of State John Kerry thought he was Secretary of Defense and spent too much time playing general to do his job.

This is all appalling but it's even more appalling when you grasp that
June 19, 2014, Barack himself said the only answer was a political
solution.

But the US refused to use the diplomatic toolbox to create such a solution.

Now comes Paul Shinkman suddenly concerned.

He's not concerned.

Paul is part of the war think tank Center for a New American Security --
an affiliation that should preclude him from being presented as
anything other than biased -- every column he writes should have a
disclaimer at the top.

For those who don't know that organization, it was cofounded by Michele
Flournoy -- a woman so addicted to war and violence that even Barack
wouldn't appoint her Secretary of Defense though everyone thought she
had a lock on the job at one point. (She only made it up to Under
Secretary of Defense for Policy.)

War boy Paul suddenly raises the political issue and he's doing it
because he wants the military angle in Iraq. He's lying to justify
further war.

Today, Speaker of Parliament Salim al-Jubouri has declared to the UN
Secretary-General that Iraq needs a Marshall Plan to rebuild.

Such a plan would cost millions -- probably billions.

There's your maneuver.

You insist upon meaningful changes as a condition on funding.

I'm assuming this would be done at the UN level.

European countries -- France most visibly -- have long mocked Barack for his no-strings approach to diplomacy with Iraq.

European countries would be on board with this.

This is a tool that can be used.

That Paul Shinkman doesn't note these type of tools is because he doesn't care about a political solution within Iraq.

He's only tossing that out now because he's afraid that the US will
'walk away' militarily from Iraq and human filth like Paul can't stand
for any war to end.

XINHUA notes:
The UN chief's visit came as the Iraqi security forces are fighting
to dislodge the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants from their last
major stronghold in Mosul. The troops have been
fighting street by street and house by house to recapture the Mosul's
old city center, but they were slowed by the heavy resistance of IS
militants and the presence of some 500,000 people living in the old
houses with narrow alleys. The fierce battles in the
western side of Mosul caused heavy casualties among civilians who were
either caught by cross-fire or by airstrikes and shelling.

The debris of destroyed houses, schools and hospitals have turned
Iraq’s second largest city into an urban graveyard after the US-led
coalition and Iraqi government forces launched the offensive in October
to liberate the city.With explosions and gunfire heard in the
distance, RT's crew saw US-led coalition jets heading to and from Mosul
every 5–10 minutes on Tuesday night. They also witnessed an Iraqi
helicopter launching missiles at IS targets on Wednesday and heard
chilling stories of how Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL)
terrorists continue to use civilians as human shields during airstrikes.But instead of organizing humanitarian corridors for civilian to leave
the city, the Iraqi government, as noted in the Amnesty International
report earlier this week, has been urging Mosul residents to stay
inside. Unfortunately for many of them, the perceived safety of their
homes became their graves, as Iraqi and US forces continue to target
their houses.“When we were in our home, it was hit by a shell. We went to my
parent’s house, and it was hit by a rocket. Wherever we went, we’d be
bombed. I heard an airstrike destroyed our home,” one woman with a child told RT.

President
Donald Trump offered rare public remarks about Iraq Tuesday, declaring
to a group of Senators gathered at the White House that the US is
performing "very well" in the country, which remains besieged by
violence.

"We're doing very
well in Iraq," Trump said at a reception for all US senators and their
spouses in the White House East Room, adding he'd just ended a long
phone call with Defense Secretary James Mattis before appearing at the
event.

Trump added that "our
soldiers are fighting like never before" in Iraq, and praised what he
characterized as a positive trajectory in the country.

It wasn't clear what fighting Trump was referring to in his remarks, which appeared unscripted. The US combat mission in Iraq ended in 2010 and American troops are now in the country primarily to advise and assist Iraqi forces.

Iraq and the United States are negotiating an agreement that could
result in the return of small units of American soldiers to Iraq on
training missions. At the request of the Iraqi government, according to
General Caslen, a unit of Army Special Operations soldiers was recently
deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and help with
intelligence.

All of that's before August of 2014 when then-President Barack Obama begins the daily bombings of Iraq.

Liar Liptak ignores all of Ash Carter's testimony to Congress as well as his remarks to the press.

Why?

Because he wants to take down Donald Trump.

I'm sick of your bias, I'm sick of your lies.

I'm sick of you.

You have no ethics.

How sad that I'm the one -- someone who loathes Donald Trump -- who is
trying to be fair while the professional press thinks they can write any
damn lie they want.

The press is a threat to democracy at this point.

These daily attempts to take down an elected president are outrageous.

I'm not talking about reporting, I'm talking about slanting.

If the press doesn't understand why they are not respected anymore, that's their own damn fault.

Opinions belong in opinion pieces. Kevin Liptak is supposed to be
offering straight news but CNN's allowing him to interject little jibes
and insults.

Cher's offended by what Liptak describes Trump doing in his first two paragraphs above.

She has every right to be offended.

She has every right to express that offense.

Where I disagree is that I don't find the remark outrageous.

Donald is president of the United States which makes him
commander-in-chief of the US military. I see that statement in keeping
with a commander-in-chief statement, with a Secretary of Defense
statement, etc.

Ines San Martin (CRUX) reports:Pope Francis said the protection of the civilian population in the
“beloved Iraqi nation” is an “imperative and urgent obligation,” calling
for the forces fighting in Mosul, including the United States, to
protect them.Speaking at the end of his weekly Wednesday audience, Francis also expressed “deep pain for the victims of the bloody conflict.”The pontiff said that he was particularly concerned about the
citizens trapped by recent fighting to take Mosul back from Islamic
State group militants.

“My thoughts go to the civilian populations trapped in the western
districts of Mosul and to the people displaced by war, to whom I feel
united in suffering through prayer and spiritual closeness,” Francis
said. “While expressing deep sorrow for the victims of the bloody
conflict, I renew to all the appeal to engage fully with the civil
protection forces, as an imperative and urgent obligation.”

This was killing civilians. There's no way around it.

Some people are desperate for investigation by the US government that
will then be immediately released -- I think that's how Human Rights
Watch is wording their plea.

May 7, 2009 Steven D. Green (pictured above) was convicted for his crimes in the March 12, 2006 gang-rape and murder of Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi,
the murder of her parents and the murder of her five-year-old sister
while Green was serving in Iraq. Green was found to have killed all
four, to have participated in the gang-rape of Abeer and to have been
the ringleader of the conspiracy to commit the crimes and the conspiracy
to cover them up. May 21, 2009,
the federal jury deadlocked on the death penalty.

Alsumaria explained,
"An ex-US soldier was found guilty for raping an Iraqi girl and killing
her family in 2006 while he might face death sentence. . . . Eye
witnesses have reported that Green shot dead the girl’s family in a
bedroom while two other soldiers were raping her. Then, Green raped her
in his turn and put a pillow on her face before shooting her. The
soldiers set the body afire to cover their crime traces."

It was only when other Americans were killed (in retaliation) that a
servicemember came forward with what he knew. Green had already been
discharged and was on his way home to the US.

The military investigation itself had already cleared Americans and pinned the blame on Iraqis.

So, no, I'm not hopeful about some wonderful investigation.

I'm also aware that numerous investigations by the military are merely
stalling tactics because they know the press doesn't follow up.

This incident is under investigation -- be it a helicopter crash
(they're crashes but the US military works so hard not to call them
that) or a military death.

Civilians never should have been put at risk.

(And the Iraqi government certainly shouldn't have told them to stay in Mosul.)

Somewhere around 250 to 300 members of the 82nd Airborne Division will be going to Iraq. Andrew deGrandpre (MILITARY TIMES) notes
this -- and, Liar Liptak, he notes that they are "combat soldiers" --
and attempts to get a count on how many US servicemembers are already
there and are in Syria:

There are 5,262 U.S. troops authorized to be in Iraq, and another 503 in
Syria, officials told Military Times on Sunday. But the numbers have
been considerably larger for quite some time as commanders leverage what
they call temporary — or "non-enduring" — assignments like this one
involving the 82nd Airborne in Mosul.

It's believed there are closer to 6,000 Americans in Iraq, not
including this new deployment. Nearly 1,000 more are on the ground
inside Syria, where several hundred additional personnel arrived in
recent weeks to bolster allied forces targeting the city of Raqqa, which
ISIS considers its capital. The Pentagon is
reportedly weighing plans to send upwards of another 1,000 troops there.

It's time to end the Iraq War but that's not going to happen unless Americans demand it.